Friday, January 12, 2018

Nepal ends India's Internet monopoly

The commercial operation of Nepal-China optical fiber link has begun from today, ending India's monopoly in cyber connectivity network.
The landlocked Nepal was totally dependent on India for access to the worldwide web through connections at Biratnagar, Bhairahawa and Birgunj, for which it pays a substantial sum as fees and royalties but Nepal Telecom (NT) and China Telecom Global today launched their services giving Nepal an option.
The information and communication minister Mohan Bahadur Basnet and Chinese ambassador Yu Hong inaugurated the new optical fibre link during a ceremony in Kathmandu.
The telecom companies had finished the laying of optical fibre cables between Kerung in China and Rasuwagadi in Nepal, about 50 km north of Kathmandu before the launching of the connectivity. A successful test of the link was conducted last week before it became operational on Friday.
"It will give Nepal an alternative to India for cyber connectivity and ensure uninterrupted connections," Pratibha Vaidya, Nepal Telecom spokesperson said, adding that Nepali consumers can now look forward to a reliable service. He noted that infrastructure had also been created to extend the Chinese railway network to Nepal.
Ambassador Yu, on the occasion, said China is the second largest investor in Nepal and also send many tourists to the country.
Nepal Telecom (NT), the government-owned telecom service provider, has now acquired bandwidth from China Telecom Global Limited, with its head office in Hong Kong. NT signed an agreement with the Chinese company in December 2016 to acquire bandwidth.
Nepal’s has a 25-GBPS link with India while the Chinese link is 1.5 GBPS. "The cost of internet services will remain the same," she said, adding that Nepal has been connected with China at only one point now, which will be increased in the future.
According to a report from Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), more than 61 percent of Nepal population of more than 26 million is connected to the internet, mostly through mobile devices.